Mendel's Theatre: Heredity, Eugenics, And Early Twentieth-century American Drama (palgrave Studies In Theatre And Performance History)

Mendel's Theatre offers a new way of thinking about early twentieth-century American drama by uncovering the rich convergence of heredity theory, the American eugenics movement, and innovative modern drama from the 1890s to 1930. Mendel's Theatre uncovers the rich convergence of scientific theories of heredity, the American eugenics movement, and innovative modern drama from the 1890s to 1930. Obsessions with heredity played out in very different kinds of theatre in the modern period, from fairground exhibits to the plays of prominent European modern dramatists like Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and George Bernard Shaw. The rise of vital American dramatists like Susan Glaspell and Eugene O'Neill took place against this backdrop and alongside the now forgotten but extremely popular eugenics movement in America at the time. Mendel's Theatre tells that story--Résumé de l'éditeur Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-13 Predecessors....Pages 15-54 From Peas to People....Pages 55-112 Experimental Breeding Ground....Pages 113-140 Branching Out from the Family Tree....Pages 141-167 A Genealogy of American Theatre....Pages 169-199 Afterword....Pages 201-205 Back Matter....Pages 207-278